City Aldermen voiced their choice for the next City Administrator for Jefferson in a rare Saturday special meeting.
Eric Kuykendall of Talihinia, Oklahoma, came out on top of the two candidates interviewed at the Jefferson Institute building. Sherry Roberts of Gladewater was the other candidate.
“I’d like to thank both candidates for taking personal time for this and for being in this process going on 16 months,” said Mayor Rob Baker. “You guys have patiently been part of this process. Both qualified and very nice people.”
Both candidates had submitted their applications before COVID-19 struck, shutting down in-person interviews. The process was further delayed by the resignation of Mayor Bubba Haggard last February, and then the delayed City Elections until last November.
Ward 1 Alderman Jim Finstrom made the motion to select Kuykendall and Ward 2 Alderman Gary Amburn seconded. The final vote was 6-0.
“Well, I wish we needed two of them,” said Finstrom. “I would make the motion that we hire Eric Kuykendall.”
According to Baker, the City still has to work out final details like salary and an employment contract with Kuykendall before he can being work. Council is set to take those matters up in the near future. The Council only voiced their choice for city administrator. A separate vote will be required for the final hiring.
Mayor Rob Baker said the salary was being discussed still, but the rate of $80,000 per year had been discussed in earlier interviews.
According to his resume, Kuykendall has been the City Administrator of Rosebud, Texas from 2008-2011; the City Administrator of Konawa, Oklahoma from 2015-2017; the Town Administrator for Yankeetown, Florida., from 2017-2018; and is currently the City Manager of Talihina. He also holds a TCEQ C Water, C Wastewater, TCEQ DR, OSSF Installer I, OSSF Maintenance Provider licenses, is a State of Oklahoma CLEET Licensed Reserve Peace Officer, and has NIMS 100, 200, 700, and 800 certifications. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a B.A. of Science, Safety from Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
The city came under fire earlier this month for holding interviews on Good Friday with Kuykendall and another candidate without posting notice of the meeting.
The City held they were not required to post notice, even though a quorum was present for one of the meetings, but decided to redo the interview “to let everyone see they were doing it legally,” according to City Attorney Mike Martin.
Baker opened the post Executive session, open portion of the meeting, by asking council members if they “Have debated, compared notes, straw poll ors anything that relates to these candidates?” to put on the record that no discussions had been done prior to the meeting.
He then asked the members of the public present, Jimpecute Co-Publisher Hugh Lewis and Marshall News-Messenger Reporter Bridget Ortega were the only people other than candidates in the room.
The Open Meetings Act prohibits a “string of communication” between members outside of a meeting, and any such items would have been a violation.